Out of the woods: panda breeding plan saves species

The giant panda, long a symbol of the world's endangered species, is no longer threatened with extinction, according to China's foremost expert on the animal.

After a record 31 births in captivity this year, Zhang Hemin, the director of the China Research and Conservation Centre for the Giant Panda, in Wolong, Sichuan province, said breeding techniques had advanced to the point where cubs could be produced almost on demand.

Supporters of such methods hail this as a breakthrough for a mammal that - in captivity - has a reputation for shyness and a low sex drive. However, critics see the advances as a distraction from the more important task of protecting the wild panda population by expanding their natural habitat in the upland forests of south-western China.

The number of pandas born in captivity in China has more than tripled since 2000. At Wolong, the biggest of several conservation centres, 19 cubs have been born. This has led to overcrowding - once thought unimaginable. The nursery has insufficient incubators for all the babies. In the pen for one-year-olds, 10 pandas jostle playfully for position on the best branches.

Staff say the crowding is not yet a problem, but a new centre is being built nearby to house the further expansion expected.

"I think I can say the giant panda's safe," said Mr Zhang. "We have a 10-year plan for the captive-bred panda population to reach 300, which will be enough to guarantee the species' survival for 100 years."

Scientists have used a mix of natural breeding techniques and artificial insemination to ensure that female pandas are impregnated during their short - one to five-day - window of fertility each year. Mr Zhang said the survival rate for newborns had also risen to more than 90%, up from 50% 20 years ago, thanks to advances in artificial feeding and fostering.

Earlier this year, the centre broke new ground by releasing one panda, Xiangxiang, back into the wild. Mr Zhang described its progress as "excellent".

Critics say the Wolong programme is a lucrative sideshow compared with the more pressing task of protecting the 1,600 or so pandas left in the wild. But there are encouraging signs in this area, too. Last month, Sichuan and Gansu provinces - home to most of the wild population - unveiled plans for new protected areas, including bamboo reforestation and a halt to logging. The WWF (formerly the World Wide Fund for Nature) hailed the move as an act of "global importance".

Thanks to the global spotlight, the pandas have been fortunate compared with other, less-glamorous species, which have moved closer to extinction as a result of hunting, fishing and habitat erosion.

Last month, an international expedition to search for the baiji dolphin in the Yangtze river failed to find a single specimen, raising the likelihood that man has killed off its first species of dolphin.